My opponent this round is fellow Grande Prairie chess club member, Elroy Deimert. Elroy always seems to bring his A-Game against me for some reason and never seems to play at his rating.
1.e4
e5
2.Nf3
d6
I have decided to play a Phillidor's defense against Elroy as I normally would have played a Sicilian defense (1. e4 c5) but Elroy likes the Smith-Morra gambit (1. e4 c5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3). I didn't feel like playing against it today.
3.Nc3
Nf6
4.Bc4
Be6
I believe this is my first mistake in the game. I should have played Be7 instead followed by castling Kingside.
5.Bxe6
fxe6
6.d4
exd4
7.Nxd4
Qd7
8.Bg5
Be7
9.Qe2
c5
10.Nf3
Nc6
All in all, I thought I had a good position up to this point. I could castle to either side if I want and White doesn't have any great things going yet. But, that is soon to change.
11.Rd1
h6
12.Be3
b6
13.e5!
This is a really good move. It caused me many minutes of contemplation over the board as I now realize that my position is about to become messy and my pieces disjointed. I decided to give him the pawn with the hopes that I might somehow get it back (sooner than later).
13...Nh7
14.exd6
Bf6
15.Nb5
0-0
16.Nc7
Rac8
I am trying desperately to rally my pieces around my King and with the idea of somehow getting that d6 pawn. White has really got my position tied up. I have seriously underestimated the strength of that d-pawn.
17.c3
Bd8
18.Nb5
Rf5
Now I have ideas of getting my Rook to d5 where I can challenge the Rook on d1. My main game plan at this point was to get that d-pawn.
19.0-0
Nf8
20.g3
Qf7
21.Nd2
Elroy misses a golden opportunity with this move. I saw after I played my Queen to f7 that he could simply play d7 followed by his Knight to d6 forking my Queen and Rooks.
21...Nd7
I have no choice but to put the Knight on d7 as I am sure that Elroy would have found the d7 move this time.
22.f4
a6
23.g4
Qg6
I didn't like my Queen on f7 when his Rook is on f1 so I decided to play here where Elroy can't take the Rook yet. I can still go to d5 or f7 with my Rook on the next move.
24.Kh1
Rd5
I thought I had the d-pawn now. I thought for sure Elroy woud retreat his Knight on b5 and everything would be good.
25.c4
Rxd2
26.Rxd2
axb5
27.cxb5
I decided to trade my Rook for his 2 Knights. I thought my position was still not too bad. Now, I just had to figure out where to place my Knight on c6.
27...Nb4
28.f5!
I am giving this move an exclamation mark because I have to admire Elroy's tenacity. His willingness to attack and keep on the pressure was awesome to see. Too bad it was happening to me though.
28...exf5
29.gxf5
Qf7
30.Qg2
Nxa2
The computer engine, Fritz 8.0, shows this as the correct move to make and rates the position as only slightly better for White (0.28 higher).
31.Bxh6
Bf6
32.Rg1
Kh7?
At the time, I thought this was a good move because it would force out the Bishop and all would be well. Both my opponent and myself were running low on time in this position. If Elroy had more time, he would probably have found: 1. +- (6.81): 33.Bxg7 Bxg7 34.Qh3+ Kg8 35.Rdg2 Kf8 36.Rxg7 Qxg7 37.Rxg7 Kxg7 38.Qg4+ Kf6 39.Qg6+ Ke5 40.Qe6+ Kf4 41.Qxd7 Rh8 (Analysis by Fritz 8)
33.Bf4
Rh8
34.Re2
Re8??
Under time pressure, I failed to realize the dramatic followup to this bad move. This move simply loses the game. I thought it natural to simply try and trade the Rooks.
35.Qg6+!!
Simply winning the Rook outright. There is no defense to this move!
35...Kg8
36.Rxe8+
Nf8
37.Qxf7+
Kxf7
38.Ra8
Nb4
39.Ra7+
Kg8
40.Bg5
In this position, pretty much all moves are equally good. I was playing on just to make sure my opponent reached the time control. He did and I only played on for a few more moves.
40...Nd5
41.Bxf6
Nxf6
42.Rgxg7+
Kh8
43.Rgf7
A nice ending to a nice game for Elroy. Good job! 1-0